Released in mid-1987, the band's second single was critical in re-positioning their sound. Eschewing the sparse post-punk arrangements and icy guitar trills deployed on debut effort So Young, the band favoured a brighter sound and steadier rhythmic gait, attaching John Squire's Byrds-ian guitar jangle to instantly hummable hooks and a lyric about a love letter found on a train. The words may have been disposable, but many elements of the music endured to the band's conclusion almost a decade later.

"I don't have to sell my soul, he's already in me" spat Ian Brown in 1989, his barely-concealed menace more than a match for the ominous atmospherics which frame the band's finest song. Stunning both in its structural simplicity and for the shimmering guitar scales which fall from the musical ether in twirling bursts of sound, the track also served notice of an uncompromising arrogance which would become synonymous with Brown's public persona. At that point it seemed wholly justified.

Originally slated for release as the B-side to the more strait-laced What the World Is Waiting For, after hearing the funk-indebted indie-jam of Fool's Gold, Silvertone A&R man Roddy McKenna implored the band to promote it to the lead track. They reluctantly acquiesced, and the rest is history. The track was the band's breakthrough hit, reaching number eight on the UK Singles Chart, and remains their signature hit; despite sounding utterly bonkers, and largely anathema to the rock classicism which permeates much of their output.

Retaining the grandiose sense of worth acknowledged in I Wanna Be Adored, the closing track from The Stone Roses' debut album is eight minutes of rollicking rhythms, musical about-turns and Brown's distinctive brand of braggadocio. Initially viewed merely as a strong album track, 'I Am The Resurrection' became a bona fide indie anthem after an extended version closed the band's landmark show at Spike Island in 1990. Not renowned for his wink and smile approach, it's still hard to tell on record if Brown genuinely believes it when he sings "I am the resurrection and I am the light". At Spike Island, 27,000 revellers did.

Despite reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart, the highest position of the band's career, fans soon turned their noses up at a song which bore few of the chirpy characteristics that had made The Stone Roses' debut album so popular. That's not to say it isn't great. Instead the blues-rock stomp of Love Spreads thrills on an earthier level, with thick Zeppelin-heavy guitar histrionics and a particularly brooding vocal from Brown. The masterstroke is a lyric which revisited the band's fascination with Jesus – this time portrayed as black woman – eventually building to a crescendo of guttural defiance with Brown repeating "the messiah is my sister, ain't no king man, she's my queen".